Harry Potter and the Vampire War
by HarmoniousPie
Summary: Post Deathly Hallows ignores epilogue. Post Curse the Dawn. John Pritkin comes to teach at Hogwarts....and once again things go crazy. Full summary inside. NON-CANON HP pairings. HP/HG, RW/LL, NL/GW, Cassie/Pritkin. SPOILERS!
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Vampire War: A Harry Potter and Cassandra Palmer Crossover**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter or the Cassandra Palmer series......sadly.

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley have returned to Hogwarts for their seventh (eighth) year. They're beset by changing feelings, schoolwork, and the mystery of Defense Professor John Pritkin. Things get even stranger when a girl calling herself Cassandra Palmer shows up on Halloween with a ghost and seventeenth century French witch in tow. Can the Trio deal with the truth about Pritkin, a change in relationships, _and _fighting in another war that they were never meant to be a part of? Post DH (ignores the crap-ilog –I mean epilogue) and Post Curse the Dawn. Spoilers for: HP 1-7, Cassie Palmer Series, and Midnight's Daughter. Starts: HP/GW, RW/HG, Cassie /Mircea Ends: HP/HG, GW/NL, RW/LL, and Cassie/Pritkin.

Chapter 1 Summary: Upon their return to Hogwarts, Harry Potter and the "Ministry Five" are met with MASSIVE reforms to the way that Hogwarts works. Hermione notices something familiar about one of the new professors and Ginny begins to doubt Harry's love for her. Ron is upset that the changes wrought upon Hogwarts mean that he only has one class with Harry and Hermione while they have practically the same schedule. Upon meeting the new defense professor and learning what the class will consist of Harry begins to realize that this will _not_ be the normal year he hoped for. And from the eyes and mind of John Pritkin: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or why he hates Jonas Marsden.

* * *

Chapter 1: A Return to Hogwarts and Professor John Pritkin

"I understand why Hermione came back but why did you Harry? You could have gotten any job you wanted!" said Ron Weasley from his spot next to the window on the Hogwarts express.

From her spot next to him Hermione Granger just sighed at her boyfriends antics. He'd been asking that question for a week now and still hadn't gotten an answer that satisfied him. Harry didn't even bother to answer since he knew Ron wouldn't understand that he wanted to have a normal school year for once.

And as far as Harry Potter knew at this moment he would have a normal school year with his girlfriend and two best friends by his side. He didn't know that on the other side of the world a war was brewing between mages, vampires, fey, and the "gods". He had no clue that one of the major players in this war was even now at Hogwarts preparing to teach the new Defense class that he, Harry Potter, had helped to design. He had no idea that he and his friends would be caught in another war, less than a year after they had fought one of their own. But Harry was happy to get off the train an hour after Ron had asked his question for the last time. He climbed into a carriage after helping Ginny inside. Ron and Hermione were already there and Neville and Luna climbed in after them.

"You're back too, Nev?" Ron asked, "You were here last year! Why come back?"

"We didn't learn much last year and because of the battle I never got to take my NEWTs. A lot of last year's seventh years have returned this year to redo the year. I'm surprised to see you back Ron."

"Mum and Hermione badgered me into coming back. I wanted to head straight into Auror training."

"It's a good thing you didn't. You're absolute rubbish at Potions and you really do need it to be an Auror, honestly Ronald. Kingsley told you that six times during the summer." Hermione said exasperated.

"Personally, I'm glad we're all back here together." Luna piped in, "I missed the three of you during the last year. Plus, I feel like something exciting is going to happen this year."

"Let's hope it's not too exciting, eh? I'd like a year off from being a savior for once." Harry said, "But I missed you too Luna."

Moments later they found themselves at the doors to the castle and the group of six walked into the Great Hall together. Luna separated herself from them to sit at the Ravenclaw table and the rest continued on to the center of the Gryffindor table, where as Neville had once put it in their fifth year (outside of Harry, Hermione, or Ron's hearing) "the Golden Trio of Gryffindor held court." Ginny was surprised to find herself sitting between Neville and Dennis Creevy across from Harry while Ron and Hermione sat on either side of him. She shrugged it off since she knew that Harry would always love her.

"Oh my." Hermione whispered looking at the staff table, "That man looks awfully familiar."

She gestured at the blond haired, green eyed man sitting at the staff table. He didn't seem to be very happy about being at Hogwarts and Harry could just make out the fact that he was muttering under his breath—though what he was saying Harry couldn't tell. He wasn't the only new addition to the staff table—after the previous school year many of the professors had needed replacing—but he certainly stood out the most. There was a good chance this was because he didn't wear robes but instead wore a long leather coat which seemed (in Harry's opinion) to be hiding quite a few weapons. Flitwick led the firsties in along with floating a familiar hat and stool in front of him.

None of the small group truly paid attention to the sorting. They clapped at the appropriate moments but each had something on their mind. Neville was noticing how Harry and Hermione were both ignoring their respective Weasley in favor of a silent conversation with each other—probably concerning the blond professor. Ron didn't even notice that his best friend and girlfriend were ignoring him because he was just waiting for the food. Ginny, he noticed, was observing the slight shift of Harry's and Hermione's faces during the conversation, almost as if she was trying to understand what they were trying to say.

"There's no point in trying," he whispered to her, "I've known them for eight years now and I still haven't been able to figure out what each little facial tic means."

"It's strange that they're able to do it still, shouldn't it be Harry and I doing that and Hermione and Ron doing it?"

"Hermione's always been there for Harry, though, even when no one else believed him like during fourth year. It's just a part of the connection they share. It doesn't mean that Harry loves you any less, nor does it mean that Hermione loves Ron any less, it just that they'll always be really close."

Ginny nodded and turned back to the sorting but Neville knew it still bothered her that she was not as close to Harry as Hermione seemed to be. Mere minutes later the sorting finished and the food appeared in front of the group without a word from McGonagall. It was only once the last of the desserts had disappeared that she stood up to speak.

"I'd first like to welcome the many first years to Hogwarts Castle. May you have a far more enjoyable seven years here than some of our other students." She said winking at the Trio. "And to our returning students, I welcome you all back. As you all will have noticed we have a few new professors. As the new Professor of Muggle Studies we have Diana Rothswitch. We also have Bill Weasley joining the staff at the new Arithmancy Professor and his wife Fleur Weasley as the new Potions professor. Also we have Mariah Ford in the Transfiguration post. In addition a new class we have added for the Muggleborn students is Wizarding Studies which will be taught by Angelina Johnson. And finally we have John Pritkin as the Professor of the new Defense program. When you get your schedules tomorrow you may notice something new about them. With the volume of students being larger in some classes and smaller in others we have adopted a new schedule. The first and second years will have the five core classes once a day every day of classes. In addition they will have flying lessons both years and a dedicated library period. Third through fifth years will have longer class days than the rest of the students. You will also have the five core classes with a double period of one each day. You are able to choose two electives and if you have chosen more than those two please see your head of house so you may make your final decisions along with a study period once a day. Sixth and seventh years will choose the classes they would like to take NEWTs in and have each class a day with one double period of each class. Each and every student in this school will take either Wizarding Studies or Muggle Studies, all seven years of their schooling here. As some of the older students may have noticed there is no more History of Magic class. This has been done away with until further notice. The final change that has taken place is that eight of the first floor classrooms have been made into study lounges for each year. I do believe that is all of the announcements for this evening so off to your dormitories."

McGonagall caught Harry's eye and made a gesture with her hand telling him not to leave the Great Hall before she had a chance to speak with him. He waved the others off saying that he would meet them in the Common Room and walked straight up to the raised dais that the Head Table was on.

"You wished to speak with me Professor McGonagall?"

"Yes, Harry, I thought that Miss Granger and Messers Longbottom, Weasley and yourself would enjoy having your own suites off the Gryffindor common room. The other heads are offering this choice to the other…eighth year students. It may be a bit easier for all of you to adjust and get work done if you have your own space. If you choose to use this amenity the entrance is the portrait of Genford Ogden. The password is currently _Virgo_." She whispered, "And the password to the Gryffindor common room is _Ginger Newts_."

Harry nodded to McGonagall and traversed the familiar hallways to the portrait of the Fat Lady. He said the password and found all of the seventh years sitting in the chairs in front of the fire waiting for him. There were a few fifth and sixth years in the corners of the room but Harry ignored them to sit next to Ginny on the couch. She snuggled closer to his side as he placed his arm around her shoulders.

"What did McGonagall want, Harry?" Ron asked from his spot in one of the armchairs.

"She offered Neville, Hermione, you and I the use of a suite of rooms off of the common room. She thinks that we might be able to get a bit more work done there." Harry replied

"That was nice of her, did she say--" Hermione started.

"Entrance is Genford's portrait. Password is _virgo_." He said pointing to one of the larger paintings on the wall behind them.

"We'll have to thank her tomorrow. It's very nice of her to understand that it'll be just too difficult for us to stay in the dorms this year. It was hard enough during--" she was saying before Harry interrupted her.

"_Hermione!_" he hissed looking at the other students that were still in the Common Room. While Ron, Ginny, and Neville knew that they had spent part of their summer helping with the reconstruction of both the castle and the reorganization of the classes, it wasn't common knowledge to the rest of the British Wizarding World. But none of the aforementioned three knew that it had been impossible for them to sleep anywhere in the castle and they had instead shared a room at The Three Broomsticks for the three weeks they had been at the castle.

"Oh! I can't believe I almost said that! I'm so foolish! Let's look at the suite that McGonagall's offering." said Hermione getting up and headed over to the aforementioned portrait.

Ginny looked between Harry and Hermione. It was obvious that they were hiding something from all of them but she decided to let it go until she could be alone with Harry. She was surprised when she walked into the front room of the suite. She had expected something a bit more…opulent. The front room was very plain with deep red walls and hardwood floors there were five other doors on the walls. In between two of the doors was a fireplace with a couple of couches, a chair, a small table and a rug in front of it. In the middle of the room was four desks put together in a large rectangle. The walls had no pictures but the wall behind two of the desks had a whiteboard and a bulletin board attached to them.

"This is it?" Ginny asked, "I thought there would be more to it. I mean the three of you are…the saviors of this school. She could have given you something more."

"I think it's perfect." Hermione said from one of the bedrooms.

"Is she kidding me?" Ginny whispered to Harry, "You deserve so much more!"

"Actually, Gin, I agree with her. I like the simplicity of it. It's for us to work in, not throw huge parties in. It's perfect for the intended use."

Ginny shrugged. She was just of the opinion that the Man-Who-Conquered should have a room that was a bit grander than this. She sat on one of the couches as the boys decided who would take what room since Hermione had taken the one nearest to the one bathroom. Hermione was already placing her books onto the desk that had the whiteboard behind it.

"This will be very useful for my Ancient Runes projects." she said observing the boys playing Body Bind/Disarming Spell/Stunner* to choose rooms.

It wasn't long before Harry walked Ginny out and into the common room so that she could go up to her own dorm. They kissed and whispered for a few moments (where Harry reminded her to set an alarm for half an hour before breakfast started since they wanted to get there right at seven) before Ginny headed up the stairs to her room. The five of them headed down to the Great Hall in the morning. She wasn't surprised to note that Harry and Hermione were the only ones _not_ surprised by the changes. Instead of the four House tables as usual there were a bunch of round tables that sat eight people. Luna had met them at the doors and so she sat with them at one of the center tables though the change didn't seem to surprise her either. The group of six had a lot of fun watching people come in and stop short at the change.

Once there was a majority of students at breakfast McGonagall explained that this was a semi-permanent change to meals at Hogwarts. From this point on the House tables would only be used for feasts. McGonagall explained that she and the advisors she had met with (knowing who she was speaking of the group chortled) believed that this would be another good way of supporting inter-house unity. It was after this that the House Heads began handing out schedules. What came as a shock to all of them was that the only class they all shared was Defense. Harry and Hermione had practically the same schedule the only difference was that Harry was taking Herbology and Hermione had Ancient Runes. Neville had a similar schedule with some of his classes at different times on some days and the same times on others. Other than Defense, Ron only shared two free periods with his best friends and Ginny shared a couple of Runes classes with Hermione and Luna but no class other than Defense with Harry. At Quarter of eight the group headed to the Defense classroom, excited to begin the new curriculum that Harry had glossed over during the summer.

They'd seen the classroom decorated in many different ways but this was the strangest yet. The walls were covered with weapons and the back half of the floor was covered by blue mats. Pritkin was nowhere to be seen but Harry knew from experience that this didn't mean he wasn't in the room. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a professor had pulled in invisible trick on them *cough*Fake-Moody*cough*. Harry grabbed a seat at the front of the room and Ginny slid in next to him with Ron, Luna behind him and Neville and Hermione right across the aisle from them. The rest of the class followed their example and grabbed the remaining seats (there were only ten left) before the professor showed up. Exactly at eight o'clock the door leading from the Defense Professors office to the classroom opened and the newest Defense professor walked down the stairs. He hadn't changed much form the day before only now Harry could see that his suspicion was right and the coat covered an assortment of weapons, including a sword, a gun, and a large belt of potions around his waist. He paused at the bottom of the stairs looking at all of them.

"Here's the gist of things. I don't know about any of you…and none of you have even heard of me. But that's not really important. So you understand, you'll all call me Professor Pritkin and no variation of that. Now, as for your seats…I'll be assigning your seats because of the nature of the class…but before I can do that I need to know about you're dueling style so you all be taking this quiz and you'll be matched with the person I believe you'll work best with. Then I'll talk more about the new aspects of the class." He said and five question quiz landed on each desk. "You have half an hour. That starts NOW!"

Harry looked down at the quiz questions.

_1) When in battle what is the first thing you notice about your opponent?_

_2) What type of magic do you use more in a battle: defensive or offensive?_

_3) Before you enter battle do you a) find the weakest link and take him/her out first, b) choose the strongest opponent and take him/her on or c) just fire away until you hit someone or get an opponent? _

_4) What would you rather fight: Dark Lords, Dark Lords of the Sith or Vampires?_

_5) Choose a spell—what is the practical use of that spell in a battle?_

Harry laughed silently at the fourth question and quickly wrote…_After having defeated one Dark Lord that was a real pain in the ass…Vampires seem like they might be the better choice. I hate Dark Lords if they have the Force or no._

Harry took up the entire time on the other four questions having to actually think about his fighting technique. What he didn't know since he was so engrossed in his answers was that Ginny was trying to copy but Pritkin noticed and decided to use that to pair her up with someone. If she wanted to cheat in a simple quiz that was merely designed to determine how she duels then she'd reap exactly what she sowed.

Once Pritkin had all the quizzes in hand he looked through them and started mentally pairing people off. "Alright," he said, "Stand up. I've chosen your partner. When you're in this class, the person you are partnered with is your family. They fail, you fail. It's that simple. Now when I say your name you'll sit where indicated."

The entire class stood at the front of the room while Pritkin started pointing out chairs starting in the back.

"Greengrass and Richards. Boot and Finch-Fletchley. Bones and Zabini. Macmillan and Li. Ron Weasley and Lovegood. Longbottom and Patil. Malfoy and Ginevra Weasley. Potter and Granger."

The whole class froze at the second to last set of names. A Weasley and a Malfoy paired up? This was going to end _badly_. Ginny was frozen in her spot next to Harry—not only was she not paired up with her boyfriend but she had to trust…_Draco Malfoy_?

"Ummm…Professor Pritkin? I think you made a mistake. Shouldn't I be paired with Harry? I mean we are dating." She said.

"No, Miss Weasley. I meant exactly what I said. Mr. Potter has been paired with Ms. Granger and _you_ have been paired with Mr. Malfoy. From what I noted your style is _far too similar_ to Mr. Potter's for you two to work well together. Now sit down and pay attention to the lesson." Pritkin said stalking up to the chalk board. "You won't just be learning spells in this class. We'll also be doing strength training and conditioning. After Christmas we'll begin working with swords and other weapons. Get ready to take notes on what I'm about to say."

There was a rustle as most of the class (except for Hermione who was always prepared) grabbed some parchment out of their bags. For the next hour and a half Pritkin lectured on why knowing your partners strengths and weaknesses was useful in battle. Even though they took notes both Harry and Hermione felt it was pointless. They had been friends for nearly eight years now and had been through countless battles together and protected each other's backs.

_Okay so some of them could have gone better. The Department of Mysteries and Godric's Hollow being to good examples of that sentiment_ Harry thought.

Harry, Neville, and Hermione were the last three to leave the class, only because Harry and Neville were both headed to the greenhouses and so when Pritkin asked Harry to stay for a moment Neville agreed to wait outside, mostly to walk down there with Harry but also just in case he (Merlin forbid) needed back-up. Hermione, on the other hand, just refused to leave Harry alone in the room. Harry had noticed that this had been the case often since Godric's Hollow and even more so after he disappeared into the woods at the Final Battle. erm

"Would it be possible for us to meet when you are done with classes for today?" he asked.

Harry glanced at Hermione with one eyebrow slightly raised. She responded by simply closing her eyes. It was a communication technique that Pritkin rarely saw used effectively—many times one didn't know what the other person was saying.

"Sure. Our free period is at 4 this afternoon, will that work?" Harry asked, obviously having understood Hermione's response.

"Yes. I'll see you both in my office then." He said dismissing them.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly for Harry and Hermione after they met back up for Wizarding Studies with Angelina who gave them both a small wave as they entered the room. The class was fairly small but everyone got along well since there were no Slytherin's in the class. The rest of the day passed by in the blink of an eye and soon enough they found it to be almost four o'clock and were rushing to Pritkin's office since they'd left Potions late—Harry of course was blaming Malfoy for hiding his sliver knife and Hermione blamed Harry for not putting it away once he was done with it. They reached the Defense hallway right as the bell tolled for the start of the period. They took the corner sharply and nearly skidded to a stop outside the office door. Hermione straightened her robes just as Harry knocked on the door.

"Enter," Pritkin said from the other side. "Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, right on time, I see. Please take a seat."

Harry took the chance to look around the office. He had been here under many of its former occupants and gotten a sense of what each was like from its decorations. The wall behind his desk was hidden behind bookcases and the other walls were covered with an assortment of weapons. Harry noted the picture on the back of the door with darts in its face and the frame on one wall with an older tattooed gentleman in front of a tattoo parlor. There was another frame on top of one of the bookshelf. Harry could only make out the subject of the photo by squinting. It was a young woman with curly blonde hair asleep on a bed. Harry could just make out a scar so he assumed that she was sleeping while healing from some sort of fight.

"You wanted to see us, Professor?" he heard Hermione ask and brought his attention back to the task at hand.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall mentioned a couple of things last night and I wanted to ask you some questions." He waited for the two of them to nod before he continued. "Professor McGonagall mentioned that the yourselves and Mr. Weasley, sacrificed your last year of school in the fight against this "Dark Lord Voldemort" but from what I understand you are—"

He didn't even see the eye contact between the duo before Harry interrupted him. "Professor, technically we're in the right year in school but we should have been seventh years _last _school year. However, I was given a mission by our late Headmaster and I needed to fulfill it before Voldemort could truly take over. Hermione and Ron sacrificed last year to help me and stay with me. After Voldemort's defeat I wasn't sure of what to do with myself—neither was Hermione. All three of us had offers from everywhere we could think of to come and work—but none of us were really ready for it so Hermione and I chose almost immediately to return to Hogwarts. It took a lot of badgering to get Ron to come back but we did it." Harry said.

_Badgering?_ He thought to himself knowing that Hermione was thinking the same thing, _Try blackmailing. I still can't believe it was only upon pain of telling the truth—that he up and left us for a month—that we were able to get him to come back._

"Quite a few a of this year's seventh year students are actually in their eighth year. From what we understand you didn't learn much if you weren't a Slytherin and even then you only learned what Voldemort and his minions deemed to be appropriate. So they learned nothing but Dark Arts." Hermione added in.

"I see. The Headmistress also tells me that you two are responsible for many of the changes to the curriculum this year."

"Harry more so than myself." Hermione spoke before Harry would, knowing that he wouldn't take the credit he rightfully deserved. "He actually designed the new Defense curriculum. I merely suggested Wizarding and Muggle Studies as classes and of course, scrapping History of Magic."

"Generations of students to come will curse the day that you took away their naptime, Hermione." Harry said.

"Finally, she mentioned a Defense group that Mr. Potter ran during your fifth year at yours and Mr. Weasley's urging. I was wondering if you were interested in reinstating it. The Headmistress told me to mention that it would be a _sanctioned club_ this time around."

Harry and Hermione shared a sad look and a smile. "The Defense…_professor_ that year was a Ministry…_toad_." Hermione said, "After she made an Educational Degree saying that all clubs, teams, and groups where hereby disbanded and not allowed to reform without her permission we made our group anyways. She'd already gotten wind of what our group was planning—to learn how to defend ourselves. The Ministry thought that former Headmaster Dumbledore was trying to train us to become his personal army so our teacher wouldn't actually let us learn. That's why I suggested that Harry teach. He's absolutely brilliant at Defense and so the DA was born."

"The DA is what the group was called. It technically stood for Defense Association but everyone knew it really meant Dumbledore's Army. It was our own way of fighting the Ministry since they wouldn't listen to reason." Harry said softly. Even now, speaking of his disastrous fifth year brought back memories of Sirius and Dumbledore. "I'll have to think about bringing back the DA…and _if_ I do, I'm not changing the name. We'll always be Dumbledore's Army."

"Of course. I'll let the two of you go now. Please let me know when you have made your decision Mr. Potter. You're both dismissed."

Harry and Hermione left the room and headed outside. It was still nice and they didn't have any homework other than reading due for the next day. On the walk Harry was thinking about their time in Pritkin's office and his spidey sense (as Hermione had once called his sense that he just knew when something bad was coming) was making hundreds of alarms go off in his head. He didn't quite know what was coming but he knew one thing for sure: This would not turn out to be the normal year he had so hoped for.

**

* * *

**

From the eyes and mind of John Pritkin: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or Why He Hates Jonas Marsden.

He was going to kill Jonas. When he suggested (read: bullied with the help of Cassie Palmer) that John take this job he never mentioned that a)he'd be among people who thought him to be some sort of epic hero or b) that he would have to teach…teenagers. John Pritkin was not a fan of teenagers whom he believed to be overly sexed bags of hormones.

He watched as students started filing into the Great Hall. His eyes were immediately drawn to a group of six students as they entered. He could tell that the leader was the young man with black hair and green eyes and that his two most trusted lieutenants were the young woman with slightly bushy brown hair and the redheaded young man next to him. He knew that the other three were trusted friends and allies but that they didn't know everything like the other two did.

"I see you've spotted our…star students," said a voice to his left. Sitting there was the current Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, an old friend of Jonas'. "The young man with dark hair is Harry Potter his best friends are Hermione Granger, the brunette, and Ronald Weasley, the red head. They sacrificed a lot to save all of us—including being here last year. It is only because of their bravery that Hogwarts is still here right now. Without them…Lord Voldemort would have taken over the school and killed any that stood in his way."

Pritkin nodded his brow furrowing as the young blonde woman made her way to a different table then the rest.

"That's young Miss Lovegood; she's a Ravenclaw, while the others are Gryffindors. The other two are Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, and Neville Longbottom. It was the three of them that lead the resistance here at Hogwarts when Miss Granger and Messers Potter and Weasley were off on their mission. I can't tell you much more than that. I don't know anymore. The three of them are very tight-lipped about both what they did and what happened. Can we talk more after the Sorting? I feel there's a couple of other things you ought to know Mr. Pritkin."

Pritkin nodded and started mumbling under his breath. He was definitely killing Jonas the next time he saw him. He now knew why Jonas had wanted him to come—to find students to fight in their own upcoming war. He could tell by looking that many of the students were still trying to heal from what had happened. But he also knew that they would need more people on their side—people who inspired loyalty—people like Mr. Potter. He sat through the sorting and McGonagall's introductions of all the new professors and an explanation on how the school would work now. He noticed Mr. Potter come up to the Head Table as all of the students were leaving and speak with the Headmistress. Whatever it was she was telling him he looked very grateful and afterwards he headed out the doors. He followed McGonagall up to her office after that to hear what she had to say about the young man that was apparently the hero of the British Wizarding community.

"You wished to tell me about Mr. Potter and company, Headmistress?"

"Yes just a couple of things that you need to understand and a message I'd like you to pass along to Harry. As I told you when we first spoke about you taking the job, the course was in the middle of being revamped by someone with experience in not only what the Dark Arts can do but battle experience. What I neglected to mention was that said person was only seventeen at the time. The curriculum guidelines I gave you for the Defense Program are of Mr. Potter's design. Both he and Miss Granger were here for three weeks following all that happened to help with the rebuilding of the castle and restructuring of courses."

Pritkin wasn't completely surprised to hear that it had been this young man who had changed the Defense Program. From what he had heard in these few hours told John that this young man was extremely capable and probably able to teach this course if he wanted to.

"Also during their fifth year, Mr. Potter, at the suggestion of Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley, ran a group that studied defense. The students who were in that group got the highest DADA O.W.L grades in Hogwarts history. I know many of the students would find this group helpful once again, seeing as the curriculum Harry put together is difficult and from what Jonas tells me you accept nothing less than perfection. Please see to it that you ask Mr. Potter if he will run the group again…as a _sanctioned _club this time around. He will know what that means."

Pritkin nodded and was dismissed from the office. His talk with McGonagall hadn't answered any questions he had, it had only created more. He decided to have a talk with Potter after classes the following day. He was looking over the roster for his first double period class—a mixed house 7th year class. Close to the bottom of the roster was the name he was looking for—Harry Potter. He noted that Messers Weasley and Longbottom were also in the class along with Misses Granger, Weasley, and Lovegood. As he came down the stairs from his office, he noted that both Potter and Granger's eyes were constantly moving looking for any threats in the room.

He handed out the quizzes he had developed to see whom would be paired with whom—though he was already sure that he would end up pairing Potter with Granger. At the end of the thirty minutes he took all of the quizzes and as he looked through them. He knew what Miss Weasley's plan was—she wanted to be paired with her boyfriend and so she had answered in a way similar to him. She didn't understand that for a fighting duo their styles needed to be complementary—not exactly the same.

She was shocked when he paired her with Draco Malfoy—the whole class was. When she complained he told her to sit down and take notes like the rest of the class. When they were leaving he asked Potter to stay for a moment. Granger pretty much refused to leave the room and he noticed that Potter didn't seem to be surprised by this fact. He also knew that Longbottom was waiting outside the door under the pretense of waiting for Potter so that they could go to Herbology but he knew that it was in case backup was needed. He asked Potter (and Granger by extension since she was with him now he was willing to bet she'd be there for the talk) if they could talk after classes. After a momentary silent communication Potter responded that they had their free period at 4 that afternoon. He agreed seeing as he didn't have any classes at that time.

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly and at just after four he heard a knock on his door. He told Granger and Potter to come in and he asked a few questions that needed clarification. During their conversation he realized that they were hiding something big to do with Mr. Weasley and their mission over the course of the previous school year. After hearing about their defense group he hoped they would choose to reinstate it since he knew with his…_teaching_ style it was likely to help.

The next two weeks passed quickly with little interesting happening other than Potter informing him that the DA would be reinstated and the first meeting would be on October first. That same day he received some mail one was a short letter from Jonas and the other was a quick note from Cassandra.

_John-_

_How are Minerva and Hogwarts treating you? Everything is alright here. Lady Cassandra is learning how to use the Pythia's powers very fast. I'm just sending this to request one thing: that you send me a list of all the students in your upper level classes that you think are good enough to help with everything that's coming. Send it to me as soon as you can. _

_-Jonas_

He had been expecting Jonas' request since he first arrived at Hogwarts and had started to compile a list. It wouldn't be complete until Halloween since that was when their first physical test would be but just from classes he could tell that the first two names on his list would stay right where they were: Potter and Granger. Cassandra's note was very short but it somehow managed to convey a lot.

_Pritkin-_

_It's weird not having you around as my partner right now. I think even Billie-Joe misses you a little. He and Francoise both send their hello's along by the way. Casanova doesn't miss you but knowing how much damage the two of us have caused to Dante's maybe that isn't so surprising. Learning about my powers with Jonas is difficult…but fun. Don't scare the kiddies at that school too much!_

_-Cassie  
Lady Cassandra I, reigning Pythia_

As he reread the noted he realized that there was a small part of him that missed her…and her two companions.

* * *

Thats's the first chapter! So what do you think? Send a review along and you get a sneak peak of the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Wow! Sorry this has taken me so long! I have been busy but this chapter is SUPER LONG so I hope that makes up for it!

* * *

Chapter 2 Summary: Two weeks into the new year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry classes have been going well for Harry Potter and his friends, or as well as can be expected with John Pritkin teaching the new Defense Program. The Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin "eighth" years decide to _try_ and set aside their differences to further interhouse cooperation. Hermione's birthday comes and goes and proves once again that Harry Potter knows her above all others. Dumbledore's Army is back in action with tons more members (including some Slytherin's) and Ginny finally finds a chance to talk to Harry about his time at Hogwarts over the summer and John Pritkin finds out some of what happened during Harry, Ron, and Hermione's "extended camping trip". And once again the unexpected occurs during the Halloween feast when a young woman arrives during the middle of the feast along with a witch and ghost in tow, while complaining about vampires who hide things from you. And from the eyes and mind of John Pritkin: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or why he hates Mircea Basarab.

Chapter 2: And yet again Halloween is not what we expect…

Two weeks had passed by in a whirlwind for Harry Potter and his best friends. This beautiful Thursday afternoon found Harry, Ron, and Hermione doing their strength training for their new (and improved) Defense class—which was currently working on physical fitness. They only had a few more minutes before they needed to freshen up before classes resumed. It was still nice enough out for them to work out outside but soon the chilly weather would hit and the whole class wondered where they could work out during that time. Harry, Ron, and Hermione knew that technically they could use the Room of Requirement but being there…it was too close to where Fred had died and they all had trouble going to that part of the castle even after nearly five full months. A quick _Scourgify _each and they were ready to head to their classes: Charms for Harry and Hermione and Transfiguration for Ron.

The day before had been Hermione's birthday and while they had had a small cake in their room to celebrate they were saving the big celebration with presents for the coming Saturday. Harry and Ron had already gotten permission from McGonagall to let Luna and George into Gryffindor Tower for the night and they had asked Winky to make another cake for her. Her parents had sent her gift to Harry after he had sent them a letter with one of the school owls. He had given it to her on Wednesday morning as they had asked. Even now on their way to Charms he could see the glint of light from the ring they had given her for her nineteenth birthday. He still couldn't believe that she had turned nineteen and he and Ron had turned eighteen. It felt like only weeks had passed since they were eleven years old and saving her from a Troll in the girls' bathroom.

Once classes were over on Thursday they were all excited for Friday to be over and done with. Everything except for Defense passed by quickly because they were covering the different types of Muggle weapons there were. Pritkin even went over a few Hermione hadn't heard of (and as anyone who knows anything about Hermione Granger you know that that is not easy) and they raced to dinner after class.

That night a bunch of the "eighth" year students were getting together in their own lounge to talk. Of the forty students that were in their class twenty-three had returned and they knew that as the oldest students they needed to set their differences aside and work toward interhouse cooperation. That's why between a group of twelve students with at least two people from each house were meeting. After all, if Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy could set aside their differences for one night, then who's to say that they couldn't do it for the rest of the school year?

"I'd like to thank all of you for coming tonight." Harry said once they were all seated looking specifically at Draco Malfoy and Daphne Greengrass, who were (obviously) representing the Slytherin's at this gathering. "I know we all have had our differences but in the wake of everything that happened over the past few years we need to show a unified front. So I'd like to be the first in offering an olive branch from Gryffindor House to Slytherin House. Having been made the official Gryffindor representative…" Harry stood and held out a hand to Draco to shake.

After a brief whispered conversation with Daphne Greengrass Draco stood and shook Harry's hand. "Seeing as I am currently the official Slytherin representative I accept your olive branch…and offer one of my own." After another quick pump of their hand shake the two let go and the representatives from Hufflepuff (Susan Bones) and Ravenclaw (Padma Patil) offered their own olive branches to Slytherin and received theirs in return.

"Alright, now that we have that out of the way, we need to get to the next part of our meeting. Hermione and I have been thinking we need a way to deal with student issues internally to avoid…well things like the confrontations that have happened between Malfoy…I mean, Draco and I since…we met. And we came up with an idea a student council. Now normally these have a president and a vice president and such but because there is still a lot of division among the students each would only vote for someone from their house and that's not fair so the idea of a council chair was suggested. The chair will be chosen by a majority vote of the other council members. The chair will nominate his or her's vice chair and the council secretary."

"Harry, what will the council _do_ exactly?" asked Ravenclaw's Michael Corner.

"I think I can answer that question. The council will intervene in disputes between students. The students can be in the same house or different houses. The disputes can range from bullying to stealing personal property." Hermione said.

"So how will we go about elections?" Daphne Greengrass asked.

"Each house will have two reps one male and one female. You can't just be appointed a representative. Each member of your house has a vote and to keep things fair two people of each gender must run for the position. The positions will only be open to sixth and seventh year students and yes before anyone asks that does mean that you are allowed to run if you have an interest in it. Please tell the other years about this. Elections should be held for all houses by September 29th with the first meeting occurring on September 30th. We feel that this endeavor should be kept a secret from the staff, at least until we have proof that it actually works, so please don't say anything to any of them. There is one last bit of business before this meeting is officially adjourned. As many of you remember during our fifth year I ran a small group in learning Defense. On the first day of classes Professor Pritkin asked me if I would consider reinstating the DA. I have agreed and on Monday, October 1st, the DA will meet in the Great Hall. _All,_" Harry said placing extra emphasis on the "all" and looking directly at Draco, "houses and years are eligible to attend and after the first meeting which days they attend will be based on their year. Is there anything anyone would like to add?"

No one said anything so Harry dismissed the meeting and they all headed back to their common rooms. Once in the Gryffindor common Harry got everyone's attention.

"Alright you lot, that means you two over in the corner with your lips fused together also. There are a few things you all need to know. First, no more _trying_ to provoke the Slytherins."

There was a loud chorus of groans and someone shouted "But Harry! They're Slytherin's! It's in our nature as Gryffs!"

Harry looked at the person who had said that and responded. "Alright, fine, but don't come crying to me when you've created the next Dark Lord because you wouldn't give the Snakes a chance. I'm not saying that we can't have some fun with them anymore, I just suggest saving it for the Quidditch Pitch. Second, On September 29th, we will be holding elections here in the common room for Gryffindor's two representatives in the new student council. The positions are only open to sixth and seventh years and there can only be two female and two male candidates. We will use an impartial judge to choose the best two if there are more than two of one gender that sign up. If you wish to be a part of this please see Hermione tonight to put your name down on the list. Please remember that this is a secret from the staff. Finally, for those of you who remember it, or have heard of it, I am pleased to announce that the DA is back. For those of you, who don't know what it is; well to make a long story short it's a Defense group I ran during my fifth year. The first meeting is on October 1st and I expect to see all of you there. That's all so good night!"

Harry hopped off the couch and made his way through all the people to Genford's portrait. Ron, Neville, and Ginny followed him through immediately and they took up seats on the couches laughing and joking until Hermione came in about half an hour later. She threw a piece of parchment into Harry's lap as she went to put her bag on her chair and then crossed the room to sit on the couch next to Ron.

"Good on you for signing up, Nev." Harry said looking over the list.

"Your only competition in Reddington and he's a stuck up snob that no one really likes." Ginny said, "Vane's running? Why?"

"Because," Hermione said from her place next to Ron, "She thinks that Harry's running and that this is her opportunity to steal him from you."

"Then I guess I'll have to run, won't I?" Ginny asked with a smirk worthy of a Slytherin.

Hermione agreed and they added Ginny's name to the list. The five agreed to post it on their way to breakfast the next day. They spent the rest of the night just sitting and talking in front of the fire and it was nearly one before Ginny went up to her own bed. The next morning found Harry, Ron, and Neville up before Hermione (which was a very difficult feat). While Harry went down to let George through the gates (since he was one of the few people outside of the Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster to have access to the gate's unlocking spells) and pick up Luna from Ravenclaw Tower Ron and Neville were busy decorating their little common room with Ginny's help. It was a good thing to since Hermione started to open her door and almost saw the decorations they had been putting up.

"Hold it right there, Hermione!" Ginny half shouted, "You can't come in here without a blindfold on. Otherwise all of our handwork will be blown!"

"But I need to use the bathroom, Ginny!"

"Then take this. And tie it around your eyes."

She said handing Hermione a streamer that she transfigured into a blindfold. After Hermione was safely ensconced in the bathroom for a shower Harry came back into the room with George and Luna. They were just waiting for Hermione to come out so that they could go to breakfast. After a few minutes she came out in a pair of blue jeans that had embroidery on one leg, a pair of bright green low topped sneakers and a black tank top underneath a sheer blouse that was the same color as her shoes. Her hair was pulled up and off her neck by a braid that had been wrapped into a bun. She went back into her room to drop off her pajamas (keeping one hand to the wall since her eyes were still blindfolded and when she came back out she paused.

"Ron," she said uncertainly, "Can you help me walk across the room? I don't want to spoil the surprise but I'd rather not trip and ruin the party before it has begun."

Ron laughed and walked over to help his girlfriend. Once they were through the portrait and into the Gryffindor Common Room Hermione was allowed to take the blindfold off. After sticking the candidate sheet to the notice board the group headed down to breakfast. Anyone who had been in the school when Fred and George escaped from Umbridge after setting off their entire stock of Weasley's Wild Fire Whiz-Bangs™ waved to him on their way to the Hall. Anyone who had known George well knew that it was hard for him to be here without Fred—but he was managing. The group of seven had a brief breakfast and then wandered out into the Entrance Hall.

"So, what are we doing?" asked George.

"That's up to the birthday girl," Harry said, "It is her day."

"Let's just go out and enjoy the weather. Maybe play some games or read some non-school books." She said.

Since it was unusually nice out for mid-September in Scotland they agreed and Harry sent Winky to get a blanket and other necessities for the day. Ginny was the first to notice it as Hermione walked past her towards the doors. It was a large spot on Hermione's back right in between her shoulders and reaching onto her neck. She couldn't make out exactly what it was because of the blouse.

"Hermione, what's that on your back? There's a spot in between your shoulders!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Hermione asked confusedly. Her brow furrowed before clearing in understanding. "Oh! It's a tattoo, Ginny. I got it during the summer after I went to get my parents from Australia."

"What is it?" Neville asked.

"I'll show it to you once we're outside."

They all headed outside and found a secluded spot by the lake. Harry discretely set up some privacy charms as Hermione showed the others her tattoo. It was a Calla lily with a banner over it that read _In conmemorationis de omnis illud depereo_. At the bottom of the lily there was a small pool of blood with another drop falling from the flower's stem.

"What do those words mean?" George asked.

"It literally means 'In commemoration of all those who departed' but a better translation would be 'In memory of all those lost.'" she said.

_For a group of people that use Latin almost daily…it's a wonder they don't teach it here at Hogwarts_ she added to herself.

"Thank you." Luna said giving Hermione a smile.

Everyone looked at Luna strangely but Hermione was the only one to catch a small lopsided smile on Harry's face. Ginny suddenly rounded on Harry and Ron who were standing side by side.

"Did the two of you know about that?" she asked.

"Of course we did." Ron answered not seeing Hermione violently shake her head, "We're Hermione's best friends. How could we not notice a piece of art on her back?"

Ginny looked at Harry who could only nod his agreement, once Ron had spilled the beans there was no point in lying. "We were with her," he added. "And I got one too."

"Where is it?" Ginny asked, upset that there was something about her boyfriends body she didn't know (mind you there were plenty of other things about it she didn't know).

"My right calf." He said reaching down to pull up his pant leg. Drawn there in ink was a small heart-shaped flower with what looked like a drop of blood coming off it. Written around it was the same thing that Hermione's tattoo said.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" she asked.

"It was a spur of the moment kinda thing, "Harry replied, "I didn't think that it mattered that much. Just something to remember all the people we lost."

Ginny's anger pulled up short at that comment. How could she act like that when one of the people Harry was honoring was her brother? She nodded and said: "I just wish you had showed it to me." She turned to Ron. "Did you get one too?" she asked.

Ron's answer was interrupted by Harry and Hermione's insane laughter. "R-Ron? He...ahahahahahahahahaha….f-f-fainted at the…ahahahahahaha…sight of the needle!" Hermione managed to get out around her laughter.

"I think that enough time has been spent on tattoos," George interrupted, "Now, it is our lovely Hermione's birthday and we need to celebrate! Now who is up for a rousing game of Exploding Bull!"

Everyone looked at George funny before he explained the game. It was styled off a Muggle game called 'Bull shit' only you played it with Exploding Snap cards. They played a few rousing rounds of 'Exploding Bull' in which George and Ron both lost eyebrows. The group just laid on the blanket talking about what they planned to do after they finished school (or heckling those plans in George's case). It shocked no one that Ron and Ginny both wanted to play professional Quidditch, that Luna wanted to work for the Quibbler as a reporter or that Neville wanted to teach Herbology at Hogwarts (really it was at any of the magical schools but he would prefer Hogwarts). It did shock Ron and Ginny that Hermione wanted to leave the Wizarding world for a while and go to Uni and get a Law Degree to work towards Magical Being rights. What shocked almost everyone were Harry's future plans.

"I think I'd like to teach Practical Defense." He said.

"What?" a group of voices chorused.

"What about being Aurors? Harry, you've always wanted to be an Auror!" Ginny exclaimed.

"I haven't though. Not for a while. I don't like politics and that's all that working at the Ministry is—politics. Besides, I've had enough of fighting Dark Wizards. I want to do something helpful…and what's more helpful than teaching Defense?"

"I don't see what's so shocking about it." Hermione said, "I've known for a while that Harry had no interest in working for the Ministry. After the way that Fudge treated him and covered up Umbridge's wrongdoing and everything else the Ministry has done? I'd have been more shocked if he had decided to become an Auror after everything that has happened."

Both Neville and Luna nodded as Ginny and Ron sat there gob smacked. They had both thought they knew Harry yet here he was proving them wrong. Ron was doubly shocked…Harry was his best friend and he thought he was Harry's best friend and yet his own girlfriend had just showed him up. Ginny couldn't believe she didn't know Harry as well as she thought she did. She was his girlfriend for Merlin's sake! George quickly distracted everyone knowing the thoughts that were currently running around his younger siblings heads.

A few hours later they were sitting down to dinner and then heading back to the Tower for cake and gifts. Her favorite type of cake, a pound cake lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar and topped with raspberries, was sitting on top of a table with a pile of gifts next to it.

"You remembered!" she cried running towards the cake.

"Of course we did." Ron said.

"How could we forget?" Harry added, "It's not often Hermione Granger admits she likes cake."

Over the course of what was now bordering on eight years of friendship Hermione had once admitted that while she didn't mind cakes with frosting on them, like the ones Mrs. Weasley made for Harry's birthdays, she much preferred cakes that had fruit on top of them…especially raspberries. The group sat and each had a piece of cake and everyone except for Harry marveled at how good a cake with a fruit topping was. Once the dishes had been vanished with a mutter of _Evanesco_ and a wave of Harry's wand, it was time for Hermione to open her gifts. Ron grabbed a box and handed it to her. Inside was a sterling silver charm bracelet with a small red crystal heart shaped charm.

Ginny went next and handed her a small box that was attached to a larger flat box by a golden ribbon. Inside were two charms for her new bracelet (an "H" and a "G") and a recent photo of the "Ministry Six". George handed her a few boxes. "The top two are from Mum and Dad" he said by way of explanation. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had given her a #1 charm and a small pair of earrings. She got a box of WWW merchandise and a wand shaped charm from George. Luna merely handed her two small boxes both of which held charms for her bracelet. One was a cat and the other was a very odd shape. "The cat is Crookshanks and the other one is a Crumple-Horned Snorkack." She said before Hermione could ask. Her first gift from Neville was a plant. "It's a new plant that I've been helping Professor Sprout with. She said I could name it and the first thing that came to mind was 'Hermione's brain'. I hope you don't mind." He said embarrassed. "I love it, Neville that was very sweet of you." she replied opening the second box knowing at this point it would be a charm. This particular charm was shaped like a toad…for Trevor. The amphibian had been one of the war's many casualties—he had been killed by Slytherins in an attempt to bring Neville out of hiding.

The next package had Harry, Hermione, and Ron worried. It was a package that held a shiny silver sword with some small sapphires set into the hilt. There was no name but there was a note: _You will need this soon. It belongs to you now. _They all agreed that they should have McGonagall and Flitwick and perhaps even Professor Pritkin look over it before she touched it. Last, but certainly not least, Harry handed her his gifts. The smallest box held a book shaped charm. "I wanted to have it inscribed with _Hogwarts, A History_, but that would have been very difficult to explain to a Muggle jeweler." He said. The second box held a silver locket with pictures of both Ron and Harry. But the third gift was by far one of the most special and meaningful gifts she had ever—or would ever be given. She tore the wrapping off to find a leather bound, first edition copy of Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_.

"Oh Harry," she whispered, "You shouldn't have."

"I don't get it! It's a book. What's so special about that?" Ron asked in his usual belligerent manner.

"Hermione has a lot of books. What makes this one so different from all of the others?" Neville asked.

"_This_," she said reverently, "Is a first edition copy of my favorite Muggle novel. It would be like if Harry gave you a first edition copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_, Ron. This is something very special."

"It was nothing. I saw it in a bookstore while you were in Australia." He said. "It was practically screaming your name. Besides, it is the least I can do for you."

Ginny and Ron both frowned but no one noticed the small smile on Luna's face.

The following day things went back to normal in Gryffindor Tower—or as normal as things ever get in Hogwarts when Harry Potter is around. The days passed quickly and the following Saturday found the whole Tower sitting in the Common Room. It had been a hard week of campaigning for Neville and Ginny but They were sure they would win the elections. Neville won with barely any competition from his opponent William Reddington—who had managed to alienate most of the Tower due to his arrogance. Ginny had some competition from Romilda Vane but she also won in the end. At dinner that night Susan Bones and Luna both dropped by the Gryffindor table to "talk" and slip Hermione the names of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw elected. It was harder for Draco to get word to them, since it was a secret from the faculty, but he managed to surreptitiously slip a piece of parchment to Harry.

The first meeting to the Hogwarts Student Council took place the next day. In a shocking move Luna had been voted the Chairwoman of the council and had proceeded to appoint Daphne Greengrass her Vice-Chair and Hufflepuff Andrew "the Hammer" O'Ryan as the council Secretary.

"O'Ryan is so annoying!" Ginny exclaimed that night in Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Neville's private room, "He's partially upset because the other Hufflepuff beater Tiffany Stephenson didn't beat out Susan."

"I'm still trying to figure out how he beat Justin." Neville responded.

"He's apparently pretty well-liked in Hufflepuff." She added looking over at Harry and Hermione who were still sitting at their desks pouring over some parchments, "What are you two up to? I thought you already finished your homework for the weekend?""

"We did." Harry said looking up and smiling at his girlfriend. "This is some stuff for tomorrow's DA meeting."

"Oh. The meeting is tomorrow isn't it?"

"Yes, it right after the third, fourth, and fifth years are out of their evening classes. It starts at nine-fifteen and should only last about fifteen to twenty minutes." Hermione said. "Harry please remember to ask Professor Pritkin for grades tomorrow so we can see who from the original DA is eligible to help instruct."

"Help instruct?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. There's too many students for the three of us to teach on our own. So we figured we could enlist the help of some of the original DA members. As long as they have an Exceeds Expectations and keep that grade in this year's Defense course they're allowed to help instruct the 6th years and below. Cause it's you, Hermione, and I for the 7th and 8th years." Harry said.

Monday October 1st was very busy for Harry. The Headmistress made Harry announce that the first meeting of Dumbledore's Army, or the DA for those who hadn't been around during Harry's fifth year, would be that night. No wands would be necessary though some parchment and a quill would probably be a good idea to bring since this was merely an informational session. Next he had to ask Pritkin if he could access the grades for anyone who was in the original DA and decided that they would like to help instruct. He spent his Wizarding Studies and free period in the Library with Hermione looking up information on the House Elf Bond. And to top it all off they were brewing in Potions Fleur had them brewing Blood Replenishing Potions for the Hospital Wing and Harry just knew that the next time he was there and needed a BRP (or Burp as he liked to say) he'd get the one bad potion that slipped past Fleur. Once Potions was out he headed to the Great Hall and scarfed down some food before returning to the Library to work on an essay for Transfiguration: _Why It Is Impossible For Anyone to be a Magical Creature Animagus_. Hermione joined him at his table not long after dinner ended with Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna in tow. They all worked quietly (with the help of a silencing charm on Ron to alleviate everyone from his huffs and puffs) until 9 when they headed back to the Great Hall for the first DA meeting.

The circular tables had been replaced with desks that all faced the front of the room. Harry started to get nervous…he'd never been good at explaining things to people. Perhaps he could have Hermione do it!

"Hermione, how about you talk to everyone?" He exclaimed

"This is your club Harry. All we can do is help. Everyone will be here to hear the "great" Harry Potter speak."

_The boy will head willingly into danger and even walk head on into a Dark Lords Killing Curse but is terrified of speaking in front of a bunch of people who adore him._ Hermione thought.

"Fine."

The room started to fill and by nine-fifteen almost every desk was full and it seemed as if most of the school was sitting in the Great Hall. At exactly nine-fifteen Harry stood up in front of everyone.

"Wow." He stated, "I didn't expect so many of you to be here. There wasn't nearly this much interest last time around. As most of you know I'm Harry Potter and this is the DA, which is short for Dumbledore's Army. I know anyone in the fourth year and up knows what that was…or has at least heard of it but I'd like to explain in detail what the DA was and is. The DA is a student run group that helps students regardless of age or house affiliation to learn Defense. I, with the help of my best friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, created the group during our fifth year because the Ministry stuck us with a _toady_" –everyone who had had Umbridge as a professor snickered here remembering that she looked like a toad—"for a professor. The Ministry didn't want us learning spells…because they didn't believe me or our Headmaster at the time, Albus Dumbledore, when we said that Voldemort had returned."

"Why didn't they believe you?" asked a younger student, A first year Muggle born Harry surmised, mostly due to the lack of flinching and knowledge of Voldemort.

"The Fudge Administration didn't want to believe that he was back because that meant that bad times would return to the Wizarding World. During Voldemort's first reign of terror things had been very bad and very scary and there wasn't much the Ministry could do. So instead of believing former Headmaster Dumbledore and I they chose to try to discredit us and make everyone think we were lunatics. The DA was formed to help those of us who were going to be taking our O.W.L's and N.E.W.T's that coming May. Just knowing theory wasn't going to help us when it came to the practical portion if we never practiced how to perform the spells themselves. Some of you may remember that it was partially reinstated last year as a rebellion under"—he paused here not wanting to say 'under Snape's tenure as Headmaster' since he now understood the pressure Snape had been under the previous year—"under Voldemort's cronies. Last year Neville Longbottom helped to protect many students from harm and I thank him for that."

Harry could practically feel Neville's blush from behind him as nearly every pair of eyes turned to look at the wizard.

"This year I have been asked by Professor Pritkin and Headmistress McGonagall to bring the DA back. As I understand Professor Pritkin is a very demanding teacher and he will accept nothing less than perfection. This time around the DA's lessons will be based around what each year is learning in their classes and need to know spell-wise. The upper years will have informal and formal duels to practice their spell work, foot work, and spell knowledge. These duels will be refereed and graded by Professor Flitwick and the results and grades given to Professor Pritkin so that he can help anyone who needs it. The lower years will learn how to combat certain dark creatures and spells. The DA is here to help everyone whether they think they need the help or not. It is not mandatory to be part of the DA but you may find it helpful and you may just find yourself making friends with students outside of your house."

Harry saw shock in eyes of some of the upper years—they knew _exactly_ what he meant by that. He wanted them to make friend with the Slytherins? Had he lost his mind after all?

"Now as for the schedule…you may want to write this down. All sessions of the DA will take place here in the Great Hall. Monday nights from 7PM to 8PM first years will have their instruction. Tuesday nights from 7PM to 8PM second years will have their instructions. Wednesday nights from 7PM to 9PM will be the sixth years. Thursday nights from 7PM to 10 PM will be the all of the seventh years. There will be no DA on Friday nights. Saturday the third and fourth years will share the time from 1PM to 3PM unless—_unless_" he said shouting over the groans he heard, "There is a Quidditch game or Hogsmeade weekend then the lesson will be from 5PM to 7PM. Sundays the fifth years will go from 11AM to 12 noon and then again from 1PM to 3PM. I know it seems very complicated but trust me this will work."

He took a look atthe glazed eyes in front of him. He made a note to himself to have Hermione get a copy of the schedule to all of the council members to distribute among their houses.

"I'm almost done, I promise. The first DA meeting will be this coming Sunday, October the 7th with the fifth years. This last part is just a small notice to former DA members. If any of you are interested in helping to instruct the younger years please let Hermione or myself know so that we can look at your current Defense grade. As long as you have an Exceeds Expectations or higher you can help. But you _must_ keep that grade all year. That's all for tonight. I'll see the fifth years at 11 on Sunday."

As everyone was leaving the Great Hall Padma Patil walked right up to where Harry was standing talking with his friends.

"Excuse me," she said waiting for a lull in the conversation, "Harry, I was wondering if I'd be able to help instruct. I'd like to help out."

"Sure Padma. I'll have to go through some papers and check your current Defense grade but I'm sure it'll be fine. I'll send you a memo through Luna alright? All the council members have a way of communicating to each other. I'm sure Luna wouldn't mind passing you a message, right Luna?"

"Of course not Harry." The blonde girl replied in a dreamy voice, "You do know of course that I too want to help teach."

"I did, Luna. Alight, we all have homework so I'll get that memo to the both of you as soon as possible." He said grabbing his bag from the floor beside him and slinging an arm around Ginny's shoulders.

Later that night Harry used Ginny's council book to send a message to Luna saying that both she and Padma would be able to help instruct the DA. Harry was upset though that Ginny had no desire to help with the DA. A couple days later she caught him alone for the first time in nearly a month.

They were hiding out in an empty classroom…catching up. She pulled away from him and gave him a hard look.

"Harry, what are you and Hermione hiding?" she asked suddenly, pulling away from him. "I know there's something you're not telling us about the time you spent here over the summer."

"It's nothing, Gin." he replied.

"It must be something if you don't want me or Ron knowing."

"It's nothing important, I promise you."

"Harry! If it's nothing then just tell me!"

"We had trouble sleeping in the castle. We couldn't sleep here in the Tower and neither of us could go near the Room of Requirement, so we took rooms at The Three Broomsticks."

Ginny was silent for a moment as she comprehended the implications of that statement. They had gotten _rooms_—plural. She understood why they didn't want to say anything. Most people—including Ron—would think that they had slept in the same room, and some of the Wizarding Public (*cough* Rita Skeeter Fans *cough*) might believed that they had even shared a bed.

"Then why didn't either of you say anything?" she asked.

"It was our own issue. After the issues with Ro—running about the country for nearly ten months it wasn't something we wanted brought up."

Ginny laughed and gave Harry a kiss.

"I can't believe I thought you would cheat on me with Hermione—or do that to Ron." She said looking down at her watch. "Oh! I've got to get out…it's almost time for practice!"

"Right." He said softly looking down at his hands as she left the room, "I could never do that to Ron."

On Saturday the 6th the council had another meeting. They had decided that unless there was an emergency they would have one meeting at the beginning of the month. The following day Harry, Hermione and Luna met the first batch of new DA members and Harry and Hermione were both pleased to see some silver and green ties among the members. Everything ran fine until Thursday night during the 7th and 8th year defense meeting. It was just the Trio running things and Harry and Hermione overheard Ron starting to run his mouth about things that had happened during their time in the tent and almost mentioning the horcrux—and conveniently skipping the fact that he had left them for a period of time.

During their free period the following day Hermione pulled Harry into an empty classroom.

"Can you believe Ron last night?" she asked. "Going off about what happened last year? I've half a mind to obliviate him."

"I know—" he started but she just continued on.

"I don't see why we can't just tell everyone the truth! I'm sick of lying to everyone about Ron!" she nearly screeched.

Harry poked his head out of the room they were in and checked the hallway to see of anyone was coming.

"I know, Hermione, but of we did do anything most people would think we were liars. We've pretended that nothing happened out there also." he replied.

I know, Harry. But he's acting as if everything is all fine and dandy. He acts as if he never left us out there in the middle of the woods! He acts as if he have both forgiven him for that!" she exclaimed.

"You haven't?" Harry asked.

"Not completely. I love him but I'll never forgive him for leaving me…you..us. He walked out on our Trio. I was happy that he saved your life when he came back but honestly I was—am—still angry at him." she whispered, "He left because he wasn't happy and neither of us cared about his little tantrum. Have you forgiven him?"

"In a way. He saved my life…when he pulled me out of that lake I was so happy to see him. I can never fully forgive him for leaving us like he did…but I have to try…he was my first friend. I agree with what you said, Hermione. I hate that it's like this now. I had to partially forgive him then but I suppose that you have a point. He left because we didn't care about his horcrux born tantrum." Harry said.

"So we're both saying that we can never truly and completely forgive him for leaving but we were happy that he came back?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah. What do we do about it? We can't pretend forever."

"We try. We go as long as we can before we snap. And hope it happens at a convenient time."

Harry just nodded his agreement and slung an arm around Hermione's shoulders. They left the classroom and proceeded to the Library without looking back. Had they looked back they would have seen John Pritkin materialize just outside the door to the room they had just occupied.

The rest of the month ran smoothly until Halloween. That was the day they had their physical test in Defense. The muggle-born and muggle-raised raced through Pritkin's obstacle course with little to no difficulty while the purebloods had a lot of trouble since they weren't used to having to run long distances (or at all). Ron was the only pureblood to place in Pritkin's top ten overall, and that was only due to his friendship with Harry and Hermione.

That was not the big moment of the day though. That occurred at the Halloween feast. It started off normally but that all changed during dessert. Harry had a forkful of pumpkin pie halfway to his mouth when two and a half figures appeared between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. Harry dropped his fork and whipped out his wand. Seeing what he had done Hermione and Neville instantly reacted and pulled his own wand.

In the aisle between the two tables was a young woman with blonde hair and clear green eyes wearing just a dark colored button up shirt. Holding onto her was a woman who seemed to be about the same age but maybe a little older, with olive skin and dark hair. The third member of the party was a male ghost dressed as a cowboy.

Just as Harry was about to shoot off a stunning spell, Pritkin came rushing down the aisle.

"Cassie? What are you doing here? Where is Jonas?" he asked.

"Stupid…good for nothing…secret keeping…vampire." She muttered seeming not to hear him.

The other woman with her whispered into Pritkin's ear and after their conversation he gently laid a hand on the girl, Cassie's, arm. This seemed to wake her and she looked around before turning to Pritkin.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Somewhere safe. Was there an attack? Is Jonas alright?"he asked.

"Jonas is fine. No attacks since the race that I know of but Mircea has been keeping things from me so who knows what I don't know."

Pritkin turned back to the head table and addressed McGonagall.

"I will be taking Miss Palmer to my rooms to discover what exactly is going on here. I shall meet you in your office before breakfast in the morning to explain." He said before grabbing the girls hand and nearly dragging her out of the Great Hall. He turned back around when he reached the doors. "You may put your wands away Miss Granger, and Messers Potter, Longbottom and Malfoy. 5 points to each of your houses for your quick reactions however."

It was at that point that Harry recognized the girl. She was the girl in the picture Pritkin had hidden in his office on top of one of the bookshelves. But there was still a question that needed to be asked. Who was this girl and _how_ did she get through the wards?

**From the eyes and mind of John Pritkin: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, or why he hates Mircea Basarab.**

Hidden and invisible in the back of the Great Hall John Pritkin watched Harry Potter teach. He knew now that his former suspicions were correct. Potter would make an excellent Defense teacher, and Granger wouldn't be too bad at it either. They understood how to get students to grasp the concepts in a way even some teachers couldn't. He didn't attend many DA meetings since he felt that Harry and Hermione had it in hand.

He couldn't believe what he had overheard Potter and Granger talking about a few days later. Now he knew what they had been hiding about the Weasley boy. He had left them alone in the woods after throwing a "horcrux" related tantrum. He wasn't quite sure what a Horcrux was but he was sure that Jonas would have some information on it so that question went into his ever growing letter.

Also in the letter were the content from the first physical test his defense classes took on Halloween, along with a long section on why Jonas should be lucky that Pritkin hadn't killed him yet. He sent the letter off right before the feast on Halloween and then headed down to the Great Hall for the mandatory event.

Things had proceeded fairly normally for Halloween. There were bats and pumpkins and skeletons and ghosts everywhere and even seated at their tables the students seemed a little more rambunctious than usual but nothing truly out of place seemed to be happening—until he saw Potter whip out his wand and trained it on two figures in between his table and the Hufflepuff table. Pritkin immediately recognized the duo as Françoise and Cassie Palmer and hurried down to them even as Longbottom, Granger, and Malfoy drew their wands.

Even as he reached her he could tell something was wrong. She seemed to be muttering and wasn't answering his questions. He hoped that there had been no attacks from Apollo. And if she was here then where the heck was Jonas?

He heard Françoise's breathy voice in his ear explaining that Cassie had returned to her room where they had been staying for a couple days before her first true court appearance and had ordered Billie Joe back and instructed them to grab on. He finally got her attention and after a brief conversation they headed back to his rooms.

Once she was settled in front of a fire with a cup of tea in her hands and a blanket over her lap he began questioning her.

"Cassie, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I found a photo album a while ago and there were pictures of a girl in it. I met her today, and I had to get out of there. So I used a concept Jonas has been trying to teach me. Instead of shifting _to_ somewhere or somewhen…I shift to someone. I did it today…I shifted _to_ you."

"Why?"

"I knew you were the only one who would be on _my_ side."

That idea stopped Pritkin in his tracks for a moment. Before he could delve into it any further however, she spoke again.

"She's his daughter." She whispered, "He's claimed me and yet he never mentioned that he has a child. A daughter who is over 400 years old!"

"He has a daughter?"

"Yeah. I accused her of sleeping with Mircea too."

"That must have been interesting."

"It was."

_Flashback_

Cassandra Palmer was stepping out of the shower in the master bathroom of Mircea's Manhattan apartment when she heard the door close. Assuming it was either Mircea or Françoise returning from their shopping trip she continued drying off and wrapping the towel around herself. She exited the room and stepped into the hallway where she ran into a young woman that didn't look much older than her. They stood for a moment staring at each other before Cassie placed the other girl.

"It's you!" she said, "The girl from the photo album! You're Mircea's mistress!"

"No….just no…I'm not _involved_ with Mircea."

"You have to be! Why else would he have an album full of pictures of you? You're sleeping with Mircea!"

"No, I'm really not." The other girl replied.

"Prove it."

"Okay. First off, I don't know if you've met him but I'm kinda fucking Louis-Cesare and he's kinda made of awesome. And secondly, there's no way in all the levels of hell that I'd sleep with Mircea, cause he's kinda my dad."

_End Flashback_

"I called back Billie Joe, told Françoise to grab on. I focused on you and…here I am. Speaking of here…where is here?"

"There is more than one type of magic in the world. There is the kind I use, the kind the other war mages use, and then there is the kind that the people at this school use. This is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Oh…" she said looking down at the cup in her hands, "Can I stay here with you and just shift to Jonas for my lessons? It hasn't felt right not having you nearby as my bodyguard."

He looked at her before answering.

"Of course, Lady Cassandra. Just tell me one thing…how did you get my shirt?"

"I found it. It appears you left it behind when you moved out of Dante's."

Early the next morning Pritkin met McGonagall in her office. He explained who Cassie was and how she got through Hogwarts' wards. He also said that she would be staying with him for a period of time and asked if he could have another bedroom onto his rooms. McGonagall agreed and said that the room would be added on by the end of classes that day.

All in all John Pritkin had decided one thing. Now, he _really_ hated Mircea. Not just because he had power over Cassie. But because he had abused his power over her and hidden things form her.


End file.
